seeds Watering new seedlings under artifical lighting?

Hey Guys,

Been searching high and low and can't seem to find a definative answer...

When bringing on seedlings under artificial lighting, how often do you water them and how do you do it?

I've noticed that under the lamp now I have removed the propagtor lid on the 2 that have sprouted, it is really drying out the soil they are planted in.

Thanks Guys

If they don't have their first true leaves, I keep the soil fairly moist.  Once they have 2 or so sets of true leaves, I start to worry about damping off and cut back on watering.  
 
 

use a little hand held spritz bottle 4 to 5 spritz's around the outer edge of the cup ,  keep it on the light side and they'll be fine     

I am using the 1.5" rock wool cubes so they dry out pretty fast with the heat mat and fans running.
 
I had to add fluids twice with the humidity dome on to ensure the cubes were moist.
 
I give each cube 1 TBS every 2-3 days as needed....I am also using a spray bottle and misting lightly couple times a day until I get the cubes into soil.
 
Now that the dome is off I am adding 1 TBS daily....will be taking the larger starts and putting in soil today.
 
 
 

I have a spritz bottle I can use, so that's OK, I also have them on capillary matting......
 
So, should I make sure the soil is damp in the morning and give them a spritz later on as a top up? It's this first stage I'm not 100% on

i spritz them  before work ( morn. ) and eve. when dry ,

Experiment a little with your conditions and growing media...letting them slightly dry out is normal.
 
To much moisture and they can get stem rot.
 
Still not a all in one answer for you, but over watering is probably the biggest killer of most new growers.

+ 1 

bottom water so they stay moist. solo cup will only wick up as much as it can hold in water. let them dry out a little then repeat. depends on your soilmix / air flow / humidity. i watered once - twice a week like that. 
when they are babies they don't really drink water they are just developing root system so you water less usually.
 
now with my flood / drain setup i do every other day flood the system for 30 mins

Turkey Tray + Mini Solo Cups + Something to Stab Holes + Cheap Sprayer

I use a mixture of spritzing and bottom-watering so I have the option of filling the holding tray and letting them go for a few days without me if necessary.  Go find one of those handheld air-pressure pump sprayers you can get at Home Depot or Lowe's for like $8.  They work great for germination/seedling stage and later, for foliar feeding.  Pay more attention to the plants than the dirt.  The plants themselves will tell you if they get too dry or hot and rectifying the problem is immediate.  Overwatering is not as immediately obvious, but far more deadly and it takes time to rectify.
 
I germinate and do initial grow on my seedlings in tiny, drained solo cups in a tray.  They live in a 2x2 tent with a 300W LED 16-18" from them.  The tray makes them mobile and lets me go spray water with reckless abandon and stick them back where they belong without making a mess of the grow space.  Test the weight on whatever you're planting in with/without water.  The top dressing can be bone dry under hot lights while the soil beneath remains waterlogged.  If you can pick up what you've planted them in and judge water by weight, you'll be a long way toward avoidance of overwatering.
 

moruga welder said:

i spritz them  before work ( morn. ) and eve. when dry ,

Click to expand...

 
My light puts out enough heat for an LED to keep the tent about 82-86 degrees through the day/evening and I tend to water seedlings exactly like Moruga Welder.  Spritz them to "moist" but not "wet" in the morning before work, check them before bed and spritz them again only if they need it.  That said, every day is different.  Yesterday, I didn't need to water any of my seedlings in the evening at all.  I barely needed to water at all this morning.  I'll make sure the dirt is good and moist this evening before bed if they feel light when I check them.  If they dry out a tad in the meantime, they'll be fine.  On the occasion I need to leave for a day or two, I have the option to do like Juanitos and just fill the holding tray with water and let it go.  Cheers!

OK, so they are stood on capillary matting....How about once a week soaking the matting and once a day giving them a spritz to keep the surface damp?
 
I'm just nervous at this point, once they have their first set of true leaves, I know what I'm doing. It's getting them to that stage I want to get right

They'll be fine.  You'll be fine.  In the earliest stages, spritz the top just to be sure.  Once their root systems are slightly developed they can wick from the bottom just fine and don't care what surface soil looks like.
 
If the containers feel light and the mat is dry, wet the mat and give a light spritz.
If the surface soil is dry, cups aren't light, and the plants look fine; then the plants are fine.  Keep the mat moist and carry on. 
 
If you don't know what a light/heavy container feels like for your setup:  Take a vessel of simliar size, fill it with the same media dry and get a feel for it.  Then wet the media in that container to 'moist' but not 'wet' and heft it to get a good feel.  Then soak the mother down so you know what wet looks and feels like and can avoid it.

Actually, that really helps a lot, thanks
 
So the 2 I have taken the covers off, I have now got the mat underneath wet and I'll give them a spritz morning and night. I'll monitor the mat and the grow pods (I am using the pots that you bury and they decompose into part of the soil structure so I can see if they are damp)....
 
The mats were both bone dry, so I'll keep an eye on them and make sure they stay damp, not wet
 
Thanks again